Man Arrested With ‘Mobile Meth Lab' In Taxi

Cabbie couldn't wake him up, so he drove to police dept.

Chicago police arrested a man who passed out in the back of a taxi cab for possessing a mobile meth lab.

Joseph Andrew Hoffman of Vancouver, Wash. was arrested about 2 p.m. on Christmas Day on felony drug charges.

Hoffman passed out in the back of a cab. The cabbie drove to the 24th Police District in the Rogers Park area telling police that Hoffman would not wake up to pay his fare. Police searched Hoffman’s bags looking for the identification of the unresponsive man and found what the police report describes as “a mobile meth lab” as well as nearly $450,000 in methamphetamine, officials said. 

Chicago Fire Department’s Hazardous Material team found what appeared to be a power source attached to chemical bottles which where ‘holding clear, crystalline’ material in them.

After gaining consent to enter Hoffman’s apartment on the 800 block of Dakin Street, authorities found Ecstasy, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a gallon of GHB- a drug that can cause drowsiness and lapses in memory. According to CFD Public Affairs representative Richard Rosado, “readings were negative” for meth in the apartment.

Hoffman was released from St. Francis Hospital in Evanston the same day and was present and attentive on Sunday in the Cook County bond court.  He was charged with five counts of felony and is being held on a $100, 000 bond.

Contact Us